Skip to main content

Iraq can disarm factions only when the US withdraws, prime minister says

By Timour Azhari and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Iraq has pledged to bring all weapons under the control of the state, but that will not work so long as there is a U.S.-led coalition in the country that some Iraqi factions view as an occupying force, the prime minister said on Monday.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said a plan was still in place to have the multinational anti-Islamic State coalition completely leave Iraq, one of Iran’s closest Arab allies, by September 2026 because the threat from Islamist militant groups had eased considerably.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends an election rally for the Reconstruction and Development Coalition ahead of the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections in Najaf, Iraq, November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

Tunisian bank staff strike over wages, halting transactions

(Adds dropped word staff in headline)

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisian bank workers began a two-day strike on Monday to demand pay rises, halting all financial transactions as the country struggles with an economic crisis.

Lines formed at cash points as the walkout started, but customers said many of the machines were broken.

"We are struggling with everything. Many medicines are missing. Some goods are in short supply ... The cost of living is extremely high, and now we are left paralysed without cash,” one woman, Imen Ben Slama, said.

A man withdraws money from an ATM at a bank branch as bank workers begin a two-day strike to demand pay rises, in Tunis, Tunisia, November 3, 2025. REUTERS/ Jihed Abidellaoui

Gaza's psychological trauma brings large numbers to seek help

GAZA STRIP (Reuters) -Gaza residents are suffering "a volcano" of psychological trauma from Israel's devastating military campaign that has become clear since last month's truce, according to Palestinian mental health specialists.

Two years of intense Israeli bombardment and repeated military incursions that local health authorities say have killed more than 68,000 people, along with widespread homelessness and hunger, have affected all of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants.

A drone view shows severe destruction at Gaza’s main mental health hospital, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Names of 5 million of 6 million Jews killed in Holocaust now identified

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Five million of the more than six million Jews killed in the Holocaust have now been identified, and with the further help of artificial intelligence (AI), even more names could be recovered, Israeli researchers said on Monday.

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, said the milestone marks seven decades of work and is at the heart of its mission to recover the identities of those murdered by the Nazis during World War Two.

Visitors tour an exhibition, ahead of Israel's national Holocaust memorial day at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

ICC prosecutors probing reports of mass killings in Sudan's al-Fashir

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -International Criminal Court prosecutors said on Monday they are collecting evidence of alleged mass killings and rapes after paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized al-Fashir - the last stronghold of the military in Sudan's Darfur region.

The ICC has been investigating alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 2005 when the case was first referred by the U.N. Security Council, long before the current civil war erupted in 2023.

Displaced Sudanese gather after fleeing Al-Fashir city in Darfur, in Tawila, Sudan, October 29, 2025, in this still image taken from a Reuters' video. REUTERS/Mohamed Jamal

Iran's Supreme Leader says cooperation with US not possible while it backs Israel

DUBAI (Reuters) -Cooperation between Iran and the United States is not possible as long as Washington continues to support Israel and to maintain military bases and interfere in the Middle East region, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday.

Khamenei's comments came as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to increase pressure on Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with students in Tehran, Iran, November 3, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Turkey hosts ministerial meeting on Gaza ceasefire, next steps

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Foreign ministers from several Muslim-majority countries will meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire, as Hamas and Israel trade accusations of violations and talks continue on forming a force to monitor the truce.

The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia are set to join the meeting to discuss the ceasefire and humanitarian situation in Gaza, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Sunday.

Destruction in Gaza can be seen through the fence of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel, October 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Violence in Sudan's El-Fasher could be war crimes, says top court

The International Criminal Court warned on Monday that atrocities committed in Sudan's El-Fasher could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, as the UN said that thousands had fled a neighbouring region where paramilitaries have turned their focus.

According to United Nations figures, more than 36,000 civilians have fled towns and villages in the Kordofan region between October 26 and last Friday, while the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces warned it was amassing along a new front line.

Civilians who fled Sudan's El-Fasher last week, with the frontline now shifting to Kordofan

Red Cross head says 'history repeating' in Sudan after reported killings

By Timour Azhari

RIYADH (Reuters) -The head of the Red Cross says history is repeating itself in Sudan's Darfur region after reports of mass killings during the fall of thecity of al-Fashir to the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary last week.

The RSF's capture of al-Fashir – the Sudanese army's last holdout in Darfur – marked a milestone in Sudan's civil war, giving the paramilitary force de facto control of more than a quarter of the country's territory.

A general view of people sitting at a camp for displaced families who fled from al-Fashir to Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Jamal

Turkey, Muslim allies say Palestinian self-rule key to Gaza future

Gaza's future must be Palestinian-led and avoid any new system of tutelage, Turkey and six of its top Muslim allies said Monday after talks in Istanbul.

Turkey, which played a central role in forging the now shaky three-week-old ceasefire, is pushing for Muslim nations to bring their influence to bear on the reconstruction of the embattled territory.

Turkey has accused Israel of seeking excuses to break Trump's truce